How Android works – A Big Picture of Android

How Android works – A Big Picture of Android

Android is a Linux-based operating system for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. It is developed by the Open Handset Alliance, led by Google, and other companies.

Google purchased the initial developer of the software, Android Inc., in 2005. The disclose of the Android distribution in 2007 was announced with the founding of the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of 86 hardware, software, and telecommunication companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices. Google releases the Android code as open-source, under the Apache License.

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Android Apps can be downloaded from third-party sites or through online stores such as Google Play (formerly Android Market), the app store run by Google. The estimated number of applications downloaded from the Android Market as of December 2011 exceeded 10 billion.

For the first quarter of 2012, Android had a 59% smartphone market share worldwide. At the half of 2012, there were 400 million devices activated and 1 million activations per day. Analysts point to the advantage to Android of being a multi-channel, multi-carrier OS.